It's been a whirlwind past month for Pruitt, who was named Tennessee's coach on Dec. 7. He juggled that job and his role as Alabama's defensive coordinator through Monday, when the Crimson Tide won the national title. UT Sports
Jeremy Pruitt is a 30-year-old cook for a country club in Dayton, Ohio, and an Ohio State football fan.
He’s received a surge of attention since the other Jeremy Pruitt — the one whom Tennessee hired as its football coach on Dec. 7 — moved more into college football’s spotlight.
“The last six, seven weeks, whatever it’s been, it’s been fun,” said the Pruitt to the north. “I’ve never been one to get a bunch of attention at once. If I had a tweet that got two or three likes, I was excited.”
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That was before his Twitter account got an uptick of followers. His account, @jgroove1, has gone from having just more than 300 followers to nearly 4,000 in less than two months.
The Columbus, Ohio, native has known for many years that he shares his name with a football coach. College football is his favorite sport.
“When you grow up in Columbus, it’s an institution,” he said. “We have a very rabid fan base. We win a lot, and you like a product that gets on the field and wins. We’re used to winning, and I love everything scarlet and gray.”
Blake Toppmeyer, John Adams and Mike Wilson on Pruitt's press conference on Wednesday, January 10, 2018.
The Pruitt in Ohio isn’t the only person who shares his name with the Tennessee coach — the white pages are full of Jeremy Pruitts — but he’s garnered the most attention.
It started on Nov. 27 after reports that Pruitt, the football coach, had emerged as a top candidate for Mississippi State’s head coach opening. A Mississippi State fan sent a tweet to Pruitt, the cook, about the job, apparently in a case of mistaken identity.
“No way I’m getting tweeted about accepting the Miss State coaching job lol,” the Pruitt in Ohio tweeted that evening.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Cecil Hurt retweeted Pruitt’s tweet to his more than 90,000 followers, and the Ohio Pruitt started getting bombarded with tweets from Mississippi State fans. Most realized he wasn't the football coach, but they had fun with it. The Ohio Pruitt played along.
The cook got a mention on ESPN, was featured by SB Nation and did interviews with TV stations in Ohio and Mississippi.
“It was so weird trying to juggle all of my (interview) times,” he said. “There were times when I had to write interview times down and tell people I had to get off the phone because someone else was calling.”
His co-workers have gotten a kick out of it, too, and his boss at the country club has taken to calling him “Hollywood.”
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Although Pruitt, the football coach, didn’t wind up in Starkville, the cook felt such love from Mississippi State fans that he plans to visit Starkville for an MSU women’s basketball game in February before making a return trip in September to watch the Bulldogs play Florida and former MSU coach Dan Mullen.
The MSU athletic department mailed the Ohio cook a long-sleeve shirt and a polo in December to welcome the Bulldogs' new supporter.
“The love that they showed continuously, even my friends are saying, ‘We can’t believe it’s still going.’” he said. “I’m like, ‘Me neither.’ I figured we’d have a couple days of fun, and then I’d go back to being a regular Joe Schmo.”
The Ohio Pruitt learned about the football coach he shares his name with more than a decade ago. He used to watch the MTV reality show “Two-A-Days,” which aired in 2006-07. The show chronicled the high school football team in Hoover, Ala. Pruitt was Hoover’s defensive coordinator and appeared in the show. After the show ended, the Ohioan lost track of the coach until learning in 2013 that he was Florida State’s defensive coordinator. He’s followed him since then.
Pruitt watched the national championship game with some friends. Pruitt, the football coach, received plenty of mention during the television broadcast as he finished his stint as Alabama’s defensive coordinator.
“In the second half, they probably said his name a thousand times. Every time they would say something, everybody in the room would look at me,” the Ohio Pruitt said.
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The Ohio cook said he hasn’t received the same wave of attention from Tennessee fans as he did from Mississippi State fans, but after the Vols hired Alabama's defensive coordinator on Dec. 7, he picked up a few Twitter follows from UT athletes. They unfollowed him after realizing he wasn't the football coach.
He plans to monitor how Pruitt does in Knoxville.
“I pay a lot of attention to recruiting, and ESPN was saying that they think he did the best job (during the early signing period) with the time that he had as far as recruiting for Tennessee,” Pruitt said.
“I’ll definitely be paying attention, absolutely.”
Blake Toppmeyer, John Adams and Mike Wilson on Pruitt's press conference on Wednesday, January 10, 2018.
Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, hired as Tennessee’s coach in December, discusses the challenge of juggling two jobs. Blake Toppmeyer/News Sentinel
Tennessee reporters Blake Toppmeyer and Mike Wilson discuss the Vols' recruiting class heading into the early signing period Blake Toppmeyer and Mike Wilson/News Sentinel
Coffee County senior Alontae Taylor signed with Tennessee on the last day of the early signing period. Tom Kreager
Gibbs' Ollie Lane signed with the Vols on Early Signing Day Dec. 20, 2017 Diana Nearhos/News Sentinel
Ensworth's Tanner Antonutti talks about why he signed with Tennessee. Tom Kreager / USA Today Network - Tennessee
See why Nashville Christian's Brant Lawless is signing with Tennessee. Tom Kreager
Jerome Carvin to Tennessee By John Varlas/The Commercial Appeal
Keaton Jones, whose bullying video has gone viral, visited with UT Athletics Director Phil Fulmer and members of the Vols football team on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Submitted/ University of Tennessee.
Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt was introduced during a timeout at the Vols basketball game on Saturday Mike Wilson/News Sentinel
Watch a time lapse of University of Tennessee sophomore Kate Luffman painting The Rock to welcome UT Vols new coach Jeremy Pruitt. Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel
University of Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt speaks about who he sees as the Vols' opponents during his introduction ceremony in the Neyland Stadium Peyton Manning Locker Room Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.
The Tennessee coaching search has gone through a tumultuous week. Angela Gosnell/News Sentinel
Tennessee has named former head football coach Phil Fulmer as the athletics director. Wochit
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Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt has been hired as the next coach at Tennessee. Wochit
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